Pune Court Sends Bus Rape Suspect to 12-Day Custody Amid Consent Claims
On Friday, a Pune court ordered 12-day police custody for Dattatray Ramdas Gade, the suspect in the Pune bus rape case, extending until March 12. Representing Gade, advocate Sajid Shah argued before the court that the incident was consensual. Another member of the defense team, advocate Wajid Khan, added that the woman could have called for help and that no force was used. “The accused has been placed in police custody until March 12. We informed the court that whatever took place was based on mutual consent,” Shah told PTI news agency. Khan further stated to ANI, “The investigating officer called him a habitual offender, but he has no prior convictions. The incident allegedly occurred at 5:45 a.m.; she could have shouted for assistance. Nothing happened against her will.”
Gade, who had been evading capture since early Tuesday, was arrested around 1:30 a.m. in his village, Gunat, located in Shirur Taluka. Authorities reported that he was hiding in a sugarcane field but surrendered when officers approached to apprehend him.
The case involves a 26-year-old preoperative counselor employed at a hospital in Pune. She was allegedly assaulted by Gade, a man with a prior police record, inside a Shivshahi bus parked overnight at the MSRTC Swargate terminus around 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
The Swargate bus terminus, a major state transport hub in Pune, lies directly across from the Swargate police station. It serves approximately 60,000 passengers daily and manages 600 bus trips, linking cities like Mumbai, Solapur, Ahilyanagar, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, and destinations in Karnataka and Goa.
Originally from Phaltan in Satara district, the survivor now lives in Aundh. At her job, she supports patients by explaining surgical procedures, including risks, benefits, and recovery steps, to ease their concerns. She reported the assault to the police around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday and was sent for a medical evaluation.
After a preliminary investigation, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed later that evening, according to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Smartana Patil.
